Thailand’s Constitutional Court has removed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office over ethics violations after only one year in office.
In a verdict issued on Friday, the court ruled that Ms Shinawatra violated ethical rules in the leaked phone call with Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen.
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In the phone conversation, which leaked in June, Ms Shinawatra appeared to have criticised a Thai army commander when Thailand and Cambodia were on the brink of a conflict.
She was also heard referring to the former Cambodian prime minister as “uncle” while stating that if he “wants anything, just tell me, and I will take care of it,” according to the BBC.
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She criticised her army’s actions in the border clashes that had led to the death of a Cambodian soldier.
These contentious remarks became the centre of the case against her.
The court ruled that she lacked “demonstrable honesty and integrity and had seriously violated or failed to comply with ethical standards during the phone call.”
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Ms Shinawatra, who is the youngest person ever to serve as Thailand’s prime minister, at the age of 39, is the sixth leader tied to the billionaire Shinawatra family to be ousted by either the military or the courts in the nation’s prolonged power struggle over the past 17 years.
The ruling plunges Thailand into fresh political uncertainty, amid simmering frustration over stalled reforms and an economy projected to expand by only 2.3 per cent this year.
Attention has now turned towards electing Ms Paetongtarn’s successor, with Thaksin Shinawatra, founder of the ruling Pheu Thai Party, expected to play a central role in behind-the-scenes negotiations among parties and power brokers to keep his party at the helm of the coalition.
The Pheu Thai party has led and won every election in the country since 2001. However, it has also been repeatedly removed from office by coups or court rulings.
Ms Shinawatra, daughter of Mr Shinawatra, was still very new to politics when she was thrust into the spotlight after the surprise dismissal of her predecessor, Srettha Thavisin, by the same court a year ago.
With her dismissal, Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and the current cabinet will act in a caretaker capacity until the parliament selects a new leader.
There is no set timeline for when the election is likely to be held.
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However, five figures are eligible for the premiership. One of them is from the Pheu Thai party. That is, Chaikasem Nitisiri, a 77-year-old former attorney general with limited ministerial experience who has been mainly out of the political space.
Other potential contenders include former Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who seized power in a 2014 coup against a Pheu Thai government before retiring from politics, and Anutin Charnvirakul, a deputy prime minister. He recently withdrew his party from Ms Paetongtarn’s coalition following a leaked phone call scandal.
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